KCC Summer Food Voucher Scheme

KCC Summer Food Voucher Scheme

Funded by the Department for Work and Pensions on behalf of the UK government, the Household Support Fund scheme supports vulnerable Kent households in need of help with significantly rising living costs.

The Summer scheme will offer food voucher only support, to the value of £90, a winter scheme will follow later in the year and applicants will then have the additional option to choose between energy, food, or a combination of both energy and food support.

The Summer Food support scheme will open for applications from 12pm Tue 24 June 2025.The scheme is expected to close at 12pm on Tuesday 26 August 2025 but may close earlier if all the available HSF funds are allocated, therefore early application is strongly advised.

Evouchers.com will again be our online voucher supplier for this scheme any help your applicants may need to redeem the food vouchers can be found on their helpdesk webpages:

https://help.evouchers.com/hc/en-gb

https://help.evouchers.com/hc/en-gb/categories/11256166939409-I-m-a-recipient

Applicants receiving food vouchers will be able to choose a retailer from a list of selected retailers.

There is a limited amount of funding available for this scheme and funds will be distributed on a first come, first served basis, with only one award per household.

  Who is eligible?

 There is an expectation for professionals to complete due diligence checks of applications to ensure that beneficiaries meet the revised eligibility criteria for this scheme as set out below.

Key eligibility changes for this round are the removal of the £1000 savings threshold and a reduction in the household income threshold to £33,000 from £40,000 for those applicants not in receipt of a means tested benefit.

Applicants must

• be Aged16+

• be a Kent Resident, permanently living within one of the authorities covered by Kent County Council (this excludes Medway)

• be in receipt of a means tested benefit, or where a means-tested benefit is not being received a household income before tax of £33,000 per year or less.

• not be eligible for Free School Meals HSF support*

Application link:

If this support is required because of the increase in cost of living, please apply for the Household Support Fund on the following link:

Household Support Fund - Kent County Council (application form link will not appear until the scheme opens at 12pm on Tuesday 24th 2025)

(https://www.kent.gov.uk/social-care-and-health/adult-social-care/paying-for-care/benefits-and-financial-support/household-support-fundt Fund - Kent County Council)

All applications must be completed online, an offline bulk upload application template (minimum of 6 applicants) will be made available to professionals on request once the scheme is open.

Citizens Advice will also provide support to applicants who struggle to make online applications by calling the Citizens Advice freephone helpline on 0300 304 8003 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm – this line opens Tuesday 24 June until scheme closure) they will submit online applications on behalf of applicant.

We do aim to send the relevant Food vouchers out as quickly as possible, however a likely processing time of up to 20 working days of a successful application being made.

The applicant and referrer (if applicable) will receive an automated email to acknowledge successful application submission, and this will include the unique application reference number to be quoted in any future correspondence with us.

All applicants to use mobile smartphone/email to receive their food voucher and if possible, to download the Evouchers app to their smartphone for ease of access to the food vouchers.